Research
Mastering Time Management and Communication
A large part of success in research comes down to your ability to manage time effectively and communicate clearly with your team. Developing these skills will not only keep projects on track but also help you stand out as a reliable contributor. Key areas to focus on include:
Accountability: Take responsibility for your tasks and follow through. If you commit to a deadline or project, make sure you complete it on time and to the best of your ability.
Clear Communication: Keep lines of communication open with your PI, team members, and collaborators. Respond to emails promptly, and if you anticipate any delays, be proactive in updating your team. If you’re unsure how to complete a task, it’s better to ask for guidance early on than to risk errors.
Adhering to Deadlines: Timely completion of tasks is essential to keeping the momentum of research projects. Meeting deadlines consistently reflects well on your professionalism and commitment to the team’s goals.
Attention to Detail: Ensure that tasks are completed accurately and that data and methods are double-checked for quality. In research, small errors can lead to significant setbacks, so focus on doing things right the first time.
Taking on multiple projects can enhance your productivity, but balancing them effectively requires strong time management. Create a system to track deadlines and priorities, and remember that honest communication is key. If you’re facing challenges, address them openly with your team; your reliability and willingness to learn will be noticed and appreciated.
2. Mentorship
The first step to getting involved in research is finding a strong mentor. An effective research mentor will help guide you through research projects, ensuring the project is feasible to complete to fruition, and also fostering your growth and skill development in the process.
Don’t be afraid to reach out to physicians outside of your institution to get involved in research, especially if your home medical school does not offer an abundance of research opportunities. A couple tips when contacting physicians asking for research projects:
Find common ground – maybe you’ve read their research before, attended a talk or panel they spoke on, have a mutual connection, etc., give them some familiarity to connect to you
Express interest in their work and demonstrate that you have read their research
Attach your CV and offer to meet
Reach out to physicians that are productive in research (publish several times a year) and often publish with other medical students (co-authors may have BA/BS/MS next to their names instead of doctoral degrees)
Check out this resource that shows a great sample research email template
Read about building and maintaining an effective research mentor-mentee relationship
Tips to Find Research from Dr. Vamsi Reddy, a resident, about research.
3. Study Selection
Initially, you need to determine if you are interested in conducting basic science (think: lab) or clinical (think: patient) research. A large portion of ortho research is clinical in nature, however, there are many ortho studies that are basic science whether they are lab, animal, or biomechanical studies. Of note, basic science studies can often be much more longitudinal and may require lengthier investment of time for productive output. Read about more of this here.
Oftentimes when you begin research, you may be asked to look into a topic further or are provided with a specific question. If not, that should not stop you from getting involved. Although it may seem daunting at first, formulating your own research question is definitely possible. Here is a great resource for a guide on how to do so.
When you initially begin a project, you will want to complete a literature review. This includes compiling background information that is currently published on the topic. Here are some tips on how to do this.
Reading the discussion section, specifically limitations and/or future directions can be a great way to identify gaps in the literature and may help you create ideas for future projects.
4. Conducting a Systematic Review
A systematic review is a common type of study that involves collecting all of the existing studies in the literature and compiling their data in order to make informed clinical decisions. These studies require maintenance of pre-determined eligibility guidelines to honor research integrity.
Check out this resource on how to conduct a systematic review
Here is another helpful source to guide you on how to write a systematic review
5. Case Reports
If you come across any unique or unusual cases throughout your clerkships, don’t hesitate to ask your attending if you could write a case report. Case reports describe an individual patient case, pathology, and treatment in depth and are done with the circumstance is unique and typically not previously documented in the literature.
6. Survey Resources (RedCap)
Oftentimes, you may be distributing a survey as part of your research project. RedCap is a commonly used platform for survey creation and distribution. If you are looking for some assistance with using this platform, check out this video series and/or PDF beginner’s guide.
7. Statistics
Completion of statistics may be something that comes as you become a more advanced researcher or may be something that you are naturally skilled in from your undergraduate degree. Either way, being able to analyze your own data is a huge asset to the research team as waiting on a statistician can often delay a research project by several months. Effective data analysis requires attention to detail, access to a quality analysis program (i.e. Stata, R, SPSS, etc.), and knowledge of statistical methods and the indications for each.
SPSS is generally more user-friendly, especially for beginners in statistics, as it provides a point-and-click interface and pre-built modules, making it ideal for those who need quick analyses without deep programming knowledge.
R is a programming language and environment specifically designed for statistical computing and data analysis. Rstudio is essentially the playground where you can write code, see its immediate results, and integrate tools for making plots and figures. All in all, Rstudio provides a more organized and user-friendly interface for working in R. Unlike SPSS, R, is free, open-source, and widely used in academia. It’s highly customizable and suited for more complex, large-scale data analysis. R users have developed tools like the Tidyverse—a collection of packages (similar to Anki add-ons)—to make data analysis more intuitive and efficient. These packages streamline data cleaning, visualization, and analysis, reducing the amount of code needed and making it easier to understand.
Additionally, free tools like Google Sheets and Excel offer basic statistical functions that can be useful for simpler analyses.
Selecting the Appropriate Statistical Method for Data Analysis
At the outset of your project, think about how to best answer your research question and what you want your tables/figures to look like. Prior literature can form a template for these ideas.
Once you understand the basics of how to use a particular software and you run into a dead end, oftentimes many other people have run into similar scenarios. Search your problem and you can find solutions in stackoverflow or ChatGPT. Another powerful tool to accelerate your learning is ChatGPT, which can be a valuable resource in resolving specific issues. For example, you can ask, “How do I run a logistic regression in R?” or “What are the assumptions of a t-test?” This tool can quickly clarify common statistical methods used in orthopedic research, such as survival analysis, ANOVA, and linear regression.
After you complete statistics for the research questions that your mentor has in mind, you will probably have a better idea about the topic as a whole. If you notice any additional research questions that could be answered with your dataset, you can present these findings to your mentor to see if they are worth presenting or publishing.
8. Writing a Manuscript
Once you have identified your research question, completed a literature review, collected data, and analyzed the data, you are then ready to write your manuscript. This can be a daunting process when it is your first couple times doing so. However, scientific writing is a skill that you will continue to improve upon the more you do it.
One important note is to not plagiarize and/or have software such as ChatGPT write your paper for you.
This is a great general overview for tips on how to write a manuscript
As you are writing your manuscript, you may choose to use a citation tool. These can be very helpful in managing citations and keeping organized, especially as you receive feedback and have to revise your paper. There are multiple to choose from, but two frequently used resources are Zotero and EndNote.
If you are struggling with these resources, oftentimes librarians at your school can walk you through how to install and use them!
Introduction
Structure: Start broad, narrow to the specific problem, identify gaps in current research, and state the study’s purpose and hypothesis.
Content & Length: Focus on essential background, highlight the literature gap, and conclude with a clear purpose statement. Keep it to 3-5 paragraphs, using 10-15 well-chosen citations.
Common Pitfalls: Ensure the study’s purpose matches its content, directly address a research gap, and avoid unnecessary comparison—leave that for the discussion.
A more complete guide can be found here.
Methods
Structure: Ensure full replicability by including all non-referenceable details and following guidelines (e.g., STROBE, CONSORT, PRISMA).
Content & Length: Provide clear inclusion/exclusion criteria, statistical methods (include confidence intervals), and use tables or appendices to condense complex info.
Common Pitfalls: Avoid discussing results, over-explaining, and assuming reader knowledge. Reference known methods, and ensure sample size is adequate for analysis reliability.
A more complete guide can be found here.
Results
Structure: Report on your findings with the help of tables and figures in an organized and logical manner.
Content & Length: This will depend on the findings of your study, but ensure to keep this section focused to the outcomes of interest.
Common Pitfalls: Interpreting or discussing the findings. This is the section to present your findings, whereas you will discuss them within the discussion and conclusion sections.
Discussion and Conclusion
Structure: Start with a summary of results, compare to existing literature, address limitations, and propose future research directions.
Content & Length: Keep the discussion concise and focused (5 paragraphs max), use tables if needed, and cite a balanced range of studies.
Common Pitfalls: Avoid overstating results or implying causation without support, and ensure citations accurately represent the cited studies.
A more complete guide can be found here.
9. Submitting to a Journal
Once your manuscript is complete and has gone through revisions by your research mentor – it is ready to submit! The first thing you need to do is select the journal you are going to submit to. Your mentor will often have a journal suggestion. However, if they ask you for suggestions, you have a few options:
One option is to ask more senior students/residents that have experience publishing. They often have great insights into which journals are appropriate for your paper and can help guide you.
Another option is to check which journals have published papers that you have cited throughout your paper. As you will usually cite papers with a similar area of interest as your own paper, this can help guide your search as well.
Finally, there are sites online that can help you determine which journal is appropriate depending on your title/abstract. Here is an example of one!
When you are ready to format your paper for submission, go to the journal’s website, and they will typically have a tab for “Authors”. There you will find instructions for authors in regards to manuscript formatting. Journals will often have specific formatting related to references, word counts, document layout, abstract, tables, etc. that they expect you to adhere to prior to submitting. It is important to ensure that your paper follows all of the journal’s guidelines prior to initial submission.
Here is the link to the “Instructions for Authors” page for JBJS
Supplementary items: You will also want to draft a title page (includes your title, all authors and their affiliations, and information of the corresponding author), a cover letter (a letter addressing the journal, thanking them for considering your work in their journal), and any required disclosure paperwork.
Once you submit the paper to the journal, it will be “Under Review” for weeks to months depending on the journal. If it is rejected, don’t be discouraged! The supply is larger than demand for academic journals in orthopedics right now, so you may be faced with some rejection – it does not mean that your work is not of merit. Revise your article based on the reviewer’s comments and re–submit somewhere else.
If your paper was accepted, the reviewers will likely offer revisions they would like you to complete prior to publication. Check out these Tips to Address Manuscript Journal Revisions
10. Presenting at Conferences
Once you are able to draft an initial abstract of your project, start submitting to local and national conferences! Presenting your project will allow you to develop your skills in both public speaking and discussing your academic work. The more presentation practice the better, and a poster presentation is a great way to do that. People will come up to your poster throughout the day and you will have the opportunity to discuss your findings with each of them, providing you the chance to present multiple times. All types of practice are valuable, so you should definitely submit to both local and national conferences!
To learn more about submitting your research to a conference check out this resource.
This is another helpful guide when you are ready to start constructing an abstract for a national conference
In order to make sure you don’t miss any of the conferences, check out our conference calendar
After receiving notice that you received an acceptance for a conference, this is a great resource that can help guide how to present your research
Research Year
If you are considering a research year, reach out to prior fellows at programs you may be interested in and learn how their experience went. The more you talk, the more likely you are to find someone who started out in a similar situation to you, and ended up where they wanted to be.
If you are set on taking the year, use your network and have a conversation with your mentors about your goals (mentorship, productivity, location, clinical experience, etc) and they may provide research opportunities with some of their colleagues. It helps to have your application backed by a familiar face. If your network may not be as robust, look to social media and orthogate for potential opportunities and start applying.
Before starting the year, have a conversation with prior fellows. Each program will have its own style, so learn about it early to ensure a smooth transition of responsibilities.
Once you start, be organized - whether your year has a stronger clinical or research focus, or you’re in a basic science lab, you will have many responsibilities throughout the year. Regarding research productivity, your time may be divided into longitudinal work for prospective studies, administrative tasks, and actual time to write and push projects to the finish line. Make a daily task list to ensure you are on top of all your responsibilities, and try to implement short-, medium-, and long-term goals to know where your work lies on your timeline.
Never be the reason something is delayed - you are the person with the most free time. Use this as an opportunity to refine your time management skills by setting clear priorities, organizing your tasks, and staying proactive in communication. Develop strategies like setting personal deadlines, creating a task checklist, and tackling high-priority items first. Learning to manage your time well now will not only keep projects on track but also build a foundation for handling more complex responsibilities in the future.
If you work with a team of other co-fellows, medical students, or research staff, find ways where other people can get involved. Oftentimes, residents will have a research project as part of a graduation requirement, so helping move those projects along can save them time and they can get to see your work ethic. Once you get comfortable enough, you can use your experience to help mentor a medical student take ownership of their own projects.
Once you’ve built a strong relationship with your PI, learn your way around the department and meet other attendings and residents. One of the most underrated parts of the research year apart from raw productivity is having people be able to back you and put in a good word. Publications matter, but having respected faculty who can vouch for your work ethic, character, and dedication can be just as impactful for your residency application. Aim to create meaningful connections that go beyond just completing projects; these relationships can open doors and strengthen your candidacy in ways that publications alone might not.
As it gets closer to scheduling Sub-Is, have a conversation with your mentor about where you should rotate, and they can let you know institutions that should be on your radar based on their network.
Here are two great resources to learn more and help you make a more informed decision on research years:
Finally, check out this link to see a list of research year positions!